Yesterday morning as my husband was leaving for work, he asked me a question, “Do you love me?” I was somewhat surprised by his inquiry and quickly assured him that I did. Strange I thought, “Why do you ask if I love you.” He gently replied, “Lisa, if you didn’t love me, then why go to work?” Wow! That’s huge. My love matters that much to him. That’s intense.

It’s like what happened between Rudolph and Clarice. Rudolph was having a rough time. Life was hard and there was nothing he could do about it. He had a giant, red glowing nose. It made him stand out. People were mean and insensitive to him, even the adults. Rudolph was having a hard time.

Well, my husband does not have a large, red nose, but circumstances have been difficult of late, especially for him at his job. I suppose you could say that he’s been having a hard time too.

It mattered to Rudolph that someone liked him. Clarice didn’t care that he was different. She thought he was cute. She liked him. It matters to my hubby that I love him. Since I do love him, he can endure the hardships of life more easily. That’s just how powerful love is. It can empower you to endure, to sacrifice for another person.

When someone sacrifices for you, someone like your spouse, it prompts you to be better than you are. To strive to please that person, and not because they will love you any less if you don’t please them, but you just want to please them, especially since you realize that they have sacrificed to give you so much.

I often feel this way about my husband. His love and sacrifice encourage me to be more than I am. I want to strive for excellence, to honor the love that he has for me. Because I know he loves me, I strive to please him.

Marriage really is a mysterious manifestation of Christ’s love for the church. When someone huge and powerful like God sacrifices for you and lays down His life, so that you don’t have to pay the price for sin, then that act motivates the one loved to honor the one who has sacrificed.

So, on this second day of November, I am thankful for my husband, who lays his life down for me and our children, and for God, who laid His life down so that I, and many others, could be saved.

Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails.

And, yes, I am thankful for Rudolph and Clarice, who remind me that “love nevers fails.”